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Marvel's Werewolf By Night's Black and White SetUp: An Attempt To Be 'Different and Bold'


In a recent interview with Variety, Michael Giacchino, Oscar- and Emmy-winning composer of Up, Lost, and big-grossing films such as The Batman and the latest Spiderman franchise, shares how he convinced Kevin Feige to have Marvel’s Horror Special Werewolf By Night be released in black and white.

“I felt like if we were going to do something new in the Marvel Universe, let’s really do something different and bold,” Giacchino says, “Not worry about where it’s going or how it’s going to connect to something else. Let’s take the Rod Serling approach, tell a single isolated story, a night in the life of Jack (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Else (Laura Donnelly). That’s really what I wanted to do.”

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Werewolf by Night isn’t just a scarefest, he says, it’s an homage to 1940s horror films where it invites sympathy for its characters and even has a sense of humor. “If a story keeps its sights on heart, humor, and humanity, then you are free to do some crazier stuff on the fringes of that story.”

Giacchino continues on to say that he had envisioned the ‘horror special in black-and-white. At first, there was skepticism from Marvel, he says, it had to be filmed in color, “But we had a special monitor that allowed me to see what it was going to look like” as a form of back-up in case the monochrome plan were to be approved.

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It was ‘maybe the third cut’ when Feige finally agreed that Werewolf by Night should be in black-and-white. The director went on to say that “It is also not a pilot for a possible future Marvel series” while also not denying “anything can happen. We’ll see.”


Marvel just tweeted: Critics are calling Marvel Studios’ Special Presentation: Werewolf By Night ‘one of the best homages to classic horror.’ Further proving that going forward with Giacchino’s vision was the best decision to have made Werewolf By Night one of the best original specials streaming this October on Disney+.

Also Read: Werewolf By Night Reportedly Omitted a Beloved MCU Character's Cameo Appearance

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